Biscoglia claims third State Wrestling Title; Eight Warriors medal

Clint Cole - Editor

Saturday

Feb 17, 2018 at 8:43 PMFeb 17, 2018 at 9:17 PM

The Waukee Wrestling Team had eight wrestlers compete at the 2018 State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena Feb. 15-17. By the end of the tournament, all eight Warriors found themselves on the podium receiving a medal.

Waukee’s Kyle Biscoglia claimed an individual State Title while the Warriors, as a team, finished in second, behind the team Champion, Fort Dodge. The Warriors finished with 139 team points while the Dodgers had 144.

Biscoglia took home his third straight State Title, this year at 120 pounds. He dominated throughout the final match, winning a 9-2 decision over Ankeny Centennial’s Ben Monroe.

Waukee had two other wrestlers in the finals on Saturday, but the other two fell short of the top of the podium and took second. Anthony Zach lost a 9-5 decision against undefeated Ben Sarasin of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the finals while Waukee’s Brandon Tessau dropped an 8-2 decision against West Des Moines Valley’s Joel Shapiro.

Waukee’s Lucas Uliano (106 pounds), Nick Miller (113) and Nathan McDonald (285) all took third place, Brock Parker (145) took third and Cody Anderson (126) took fifth place overall.

On the first day of the Tournament Waukee recorded four wins by fall. Uliano recorded a first-round pin over Austin Kegley of Cedar Rapids Prairie at 106 pounds, Miller pinned Pella’s Ryan Hancock in the second period at 113 pounds, Biscoglia pinned Sean Heeney of Sioux City East in the second period at 120 pounds and Zach pinned Fort Dodge’s Kaden Smith in the first period at 170 pounds.

Parker won a 12-4 major decision over North Scott, Eldridge’s Collin Lewis to advance to the quarterfinals at 145 pounds and Tessau won a 7-2 decision over Ankeny Centennial’s Collin Hondred at 182 pounds.

Anderson suffered a 5-2 loss against Des Moines East’s Brock Espalin in the first round at 126 pounds, but won in the consolation first round to extend his State Tournament run into Friday. McDonald lost to Cole Ernst of North Scott, Eldridge by sudden victory in the first round, but recorded a pin in the consolation first round to clinch a spot in the Friday session.

On the second day of the Tournament, Biscoglia, a senior, started the second day of the Tournament with an 11-3 major decision victory over Southeast Polk’s Kobey Pritchard in the quarterfinals and moved into the 120-pound finals with a 14-3 major decision victory over Johnston’s Thomas Edwards in the semifinals.

Zach, a junior, also claimed a win over a Southeast Polk wrestler in his first match of the day, winning a 6-3 decision over Thaddeus Breitsprecker in the quarterfinals. He then took down Collin Hushagen of Johnston in the semifinals in a 5-0 decision to secure a spot in the 170-pound finals.

Tessau, a senior, was third and final Waukee wrestler to secure a spot in the finals. He defeated Newton’s Biayden Rhone 3-2 in the quarterfinals before taking a 5-2 decision over Derek Horak of Cedar Rapids Prairie in the semifinals at 182 pounds.